Joseph's P.O.V.
"S-Stop!"
"Shut up!"
Silvia ran the knife over my skin for what seemed to be the thousandth time. I groaned in agony and tried to get comfortable again.
"Silvia, please! This isn't funny anymore!" I cried out in pain.
"You want to love a monster! You're going to look like me so you can see what I do!" She snapped.
She tore my shirt apart and slashed across my chest. I screamed, and she flinched. Tears rolled down her face as she dropped the knife. She threw her arms around me and cried harder. I pulled at the chains, and she looked up at me.
"Forgive me." She begged.
She crushed her lips to mine. Her hand touched my throbbing chest wound, and I groaned as she pressed it. She kept her hand there, and the pain subsided. She kicked my cheek before she reached up and unchained my hands. I instantly snaked my arms around her.
"Keep going." I begged.
"What?" She asked, confused.
"The knife. Keep cutting me. I was starting to enjoy it."
"Later. Let your wounds heal first."
She placed her foot on the ground and pushed slightly. The table leaned back enough to where we were at an odd angle.
"Be a good boy, and I'll reward you." She told me.
She jumped from my arms and walked over to a table. She showed me a roll of gauze.
~~~
"Ah!"
"Shh, Joseph! The Keeper will hear us!"
My chest wound throbbed as we ran down the hall. I collapsed and leaned against the wall. Silvia slid to a stop and teleported back to me.
"Not now! Dammit, Joseph!" She growled.
The Keeper came barreling around the corner and ran toward us. Silvia stood, held her hands out toward the Keeper, and screamed. A ball of light formed at her palms.
"Force field!" She growled.
A blue flower bloomed from the ball of light, and the Keeper ran right into a wall. Silvia turned to me, helped me to my feet, and ran along behind me as I struggled to keep going. She pulled me into a room, slammed the door, and locked it. I fell to the floor.
"I should've healed you before we started running." She ran her hand through her short hair. "I never should've taken you to his cave. I have to get you back to the other room."
She lifted me up onto her back and opened the door. The Keeper charged toward us. She took a deep breath and teleported. We ended up behind him, and she ran away from him.
~~~
"Heh...."
"Why are you laughing?"
"It doesn't even hurt anymore."
Silvia laid her hand over my chest wound and pressed down hard. I moaned, a sound of pure pleasure instead of pain. She tilted her head.
"You like when I hurt you?" She asked.
"It feels different here. Getting hurt, I mean. I like it." I answered.
She moved closer to me. I was sitting on the floor against the wall. We were back in the room she had tortured me in.
"Can I hurt you in a different way?" She asked.
"Sure."
She crawled into my lap. I held onto her waist, and she made me angle my head away. I moaned when she bit my neck. She started sucking, and I could feel my blood leaving my body.
"W-What are you doing?" I asked.
"I don't eat human food. I bring people here so I can drink their blood. It's what the STEM System has done to me." She explained.
"Will the System change me?"
"It already has. You can change into a Haunted."
She went back to drinking my blood. I sighed and laid my head against the wall.
"Don't take too much. I won't be able to walk." I said.
She moved her hand and pinned mine to the floor. She placed her index finger and her ring finger on my wrist, and I realized she was feeling my pulse. She started to pull away, but I caught her wrist.
"No. Take more. You probably need it." I whispered.
"I can't, Joseph. You were bleeding earlier, so you don't have as much as you should. I'll take more later." She replied.
She licked the bite mark. I smiled when she looked at me.
"Did you like that?" She asked.
"Yes." I told her.
She touched the other side of my neck and held her forehead to mine.
"I'm sorry. This is how I am. If you didn't like it, you can tell me." She whispered.
"I was telling the truth."
